The Ghost Town of Va'jian
by KeyStar11
Summary: Va'jian is a rumored ghost town between the towns of Liore and Youswell. What happens when Edward gets a mission to go there because of strange reports, and from a General no less? Rated T for language.


**Key: Hey, guys! This is KeyStar11 back again with (finally) a regular, non-one-shot fanfiction! I got this idea while reading a book (well, actually, an advertisement of a book, can't remember what the actual thing was called) and thus an idea was born. This is kind of a fusion between the anime and the manga. It's when Edward was 13 and Al was 12. ouo**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. It would be really cool if I did though.**

…**.**

**Chapter One: A Mission**

A golden-haired boy sat on a couch in a rather large office, leaning backwards, and his eyes slightly narrowed in a bored expression. To his left was a desk facing the door, which was on his right, that was heavily crowded with paperwork, books, files, and pens. Behind the desk stood a raven-haired man.

The man brushed a shock of black hair away from his easily black eyes. "You've a mission, Fullmetal," he said, looking at the blonde that sat boredly on the couch. The man was holding a file in both hands.

"No, really? I thought you'd just called me down here to have a cup of coffee," quipped the boy, sarcasm teeming in his voice. "Just tell me what it is, Sparky."

The man's thin eyebrows raised slightly at the childish nickname, frowning. Rather than tell the teen his mission, he simply replied, "Please do not insult me."

"I'll insult you if I want!"

The uniformed man stared for a moment and then shrugged and looked at the paper in his hands, laying it down on the desk. "Your mission is from General Winter himself. Strange, I'd wonder what they would want with a _little shrimp_ like yourself.

"_WHAT - !?_"

The man smirked, leaning to the right to easily dodge a pen that came flying in his direction, before sitting straight once again. "Anyway, I'd - or, the General would - like you to investigate a ghost town - Va'jian."

The fuming blonde straightened, though his teeth were still clenched. " 'Ghost town', huh? Then why do I need to investigate?" he protested.

"Isn't a ghost town supposed to be abandoned or something? Don't tell me it's a play on words and expect me to believe there's ghosts in it or something."

"Not sure," he replied. "It just says - well, here, read it for yourself." The black-haired man shoved a letter at the blonde.

_Dear Flame Alchemist Lieutenant Colonel Mustang,_

_We seek assistance from the Fullmetal Alchemist, Major Edward Elric, who is currently under your command. He is to investigate the strange reports around the former town of Va'jian. Please inform him that his brother, the armored one, will not be allowed to attend. This mission is only for a State Alchemist._

_- General Winters_

The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, stared at the brief letter. Enclosed in it was a map of Amestris, with Va'jian labeled. "What about Al, then?" Edward sad. "Where's he going?"

"Lieutenant Hawkeye is informing him of the situation now. She will try to get him to go to Resembool and to stay with your mechanic until then."

"Why can't he go, though?"

"Not sure. You'd have to take that up with General Winters, and he's in Central as of the moment."

Roy handed the teenage alchemist another envelope. "Your train tickets. It's leaving at one o'clock, so you've an hour to get ready."

"Oh...okay," the blonde said, before turning and saying swiftly with his back away from Roy, "I guess I'll be leaving them, bye, don't comment on my height."

"Alright, I suppose I wouldn't have to, you wouldn't hear me because you're so low to the ground."

"_Shaddap!_"

…**.**

Edward sat on the seat of the train, looking at the window at his brother and Hawkeye. "Bye, Ed!" his brother said.

"Yeah, bye. I'll miss ya, Al, you big loaf," the State Alchemist said with a grin. "Tell Winry I said hi. I'll be back before you know it, though, don't worry."

"I'll have to worry about you, Nii-san," the armor said with a chuckle. "Because if I don't, something will happen. Because it's _you_ after all."

"Oh, come on, Al, cut me some slack, it's not like I get in trouble all the time!"

"Well," Hawkeye interjected, "you haven't completed a mission yet where you haven't destroyed something since you had just started."

"That's barely a year ago!"

"Actually, he destroyed a man's shed on that mission too," Alphonse told the lieutenant. Her amber eyes blinked in surprise.

"Aaaalll!" Edward complained, before hearing the train blow loudly. Alphonse chuckled again. "Bye again, Ed."

The train slowly began to move and the blonde began to wave goodbye. Finally, Ed relaxed in the seat when the two disappeared from view, pulling out the map of Amestris, looked to where Vi'jian was. It was somewhere in the middle of Liore and Youswell, apparently in the middle of a forest area. The train would drop him off in Youswell - that would be good, he presumed, since he knew the miners there.

He'd have to travel north, then, a little while and he'd find a forest, and that's where he could look for Vi'jian. Since the forest was one of the largest ones in eastern Amestris - around fifty kilometers wide - this would be easier said than done.

He groaned. Of course it would be, things like this just loved to happen to him. He set the map down and looked out the window. He'd been boarded on one of the faster trains available in East City that went all the ways to Youswell. There were only a few in all.

Edward heard something behind him and leaned out of the seat to look. Two men were standing at either end of the train car. Another was walking through the seats, leaning over and asking all of the passengers something. The man was at the seat behind him. Soon he went to the seat opposite of the alchemist.

The man was tall, to Edward's dismay, with short black hair and a burly figure. He wore a black muscle shirt and black work pants, and steel-toed boots. The golden-eyed boy frowned as the passenger the man was speaking to shook their head. The man turned to him, and leaned over.

"Do you know if the Fullmetal Alchemist is on board?" the man whispered in his ear. Edward paled a bit at the menacing voice being blown on his ear. He leaned away. "No, I don't," the boy said.

The man frowned. "Do you know where he might be headed, and if he is on a train right now?"

"No, I don't. Why do you think civilians would know this?"

Suddenly, the raven-haired man's eyes found something that they wished to see. A smirk formed on the man's face. "By any chance, are _you _the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

Edward stayed silent, frowning stiffly.

"Your pocket watch. You are the Fullmetal Alchemist, it's true - your silence confirms it."

_Dammit, that was smart!_ The teenager's hands twitched, ready to clap at any moment. But then the man lifted up, still smirking. "One more thing," he said. "Are you headed to Youswell?"

Inside, Ed smirked. Sure, let them believe that. "Yeah, what's it to you?"

He began walking toward the door in front of them. "That's all."

…**.**

Instead of getting off at Youswell, Edward left the train at Aszamam. Aszamam was a small town full of criminals, but it at least would get the men off his back. They no doubt had a trap set for him in Youswell.

Edward discreetly left the train station, carrying the heavy suitcase of luggage he often toted around. He looked at the town ahead of him. It wouldn't be hard to find someone to drive him to Youswell - but it'd be harder to find someone who wouldn't try to drive them halfway then kidnap him. He blew a hair out of his face in annoyance.

The alchemist began walking down the street, scanning his surroundings.

Obviously, the train station was - like most times in out-of-the-way towns - on the outskirts. He had walked to a small market-like area. It looked like it had rained here only a little while ago - and the clouds were looking dark and frightening at the moment - and looked overly gloomy. Edward frowned. "Geez…"

The cobblestone roads were cracked, and many of the buildings seemed abandoned, but not for too long. Some of the paint on some of the buildings looked to be chipped off. Edward looked to the side and saw a man in a building, apparently an open restaurant. The blonde went inside.

"What's happened here?" he asked the man at the counter; apparently, the salesman had been cleaning the serving counter. He looked up.

"Don't ya know tha' kids shoul' be stayin' outside dis side of town? Hell, ye shald be outta this town period," the man said. Edward continued frowning.

"Sorry, not an ordinary kid," he replied to the male, who raised his eyebrow.

"Eh? Not an ordinary kid, hmm? Sure. Anyways, what ye wantin' to know? How dis part of town done got like this?"

"Yeah. Where is everyone?"

"Oh, most of 'em done left a lil' while 'go. Ha'n't ye heard? Dere's supposed to be sum storms cumin' up from the east. Gonna be a lot of

damage."

"No, I didn't. How bad is the storm supposed to be?"

"Well, ain't ye tryin' to get a lotta infomation outta me, hm? Git, little kid. Ain't safe here."

"_Little!? I'm not little!_"

"Sure ye ain't, kid. Like I don' said, git."

Edward growled and leaned over the table. Mimicking the way the man spoke, he growled out, "Why don't you just _git _and tell me what I need to know, smartass?!"

The man glared back, but continued. "S'posed to be lotta big ol' tornadoes and stuff. I dunno, honest."

Edward was quiet for a while, eyes still narrowed, before he realized something. "Why're you still here, then? If its supposed to do this much damage?"

The man sighed. "Kid -"

"I'm not a kid," the teenager interjected, annoyed.

"Whatever. Look, you don't wanna be 'round when the storm comes. Better hightail it outta here."

"No, sorry. Can't."

"Who are ye, anyway, kid?"

"Well, first of all, _not_ a kid. But heh. I'm Edward Elric."

Recognition flashed in the man's eyes, as well as something else Edward couldn't place exactly. "As in the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Yep!"

Wrong answer.

Edward was suddenly grabbed by the man's left hand, his own left arm pulled behind him painfully. He winced slightly, but kicked his leg out, smacking the man in the knee. He swiftly began to speed away - or, he would have, if a bright flash of red blinded him momentarily, and he felt his head hitting something hard and his weight falling back. "Gnngh…"

He heard footsteps but it was like his body was frozen. His breath caught momentarily. He could practically _hear _the man grinning.

"Think you were the only alchemist in existence?" the man laughed. Edward sat up, looking back at the man before regaining his balance.

The man took off his gloves, which Edward only just realized he was wearing, revealing an arm tattooed with an endless amount of transmutation circles. "My name, you may wonder? My name is Kihan. Don't forget it." The man's voice was no longer the chipped, rough tone it'd been before - now it was professional. "I've got specific orders to capture the Fullmetal Alchemist if he enters Aszamam." The man - Kihan - slammed a hand down to the ground, and the floor underneath the boy exploded, sending the blonde himself to his feet, and dust rose up around him.

Edward coughed, raising a hand to block the dust from his eyes and waving the other around, desperate to clear it. He almost missed the dark figure coming down on him. He quickly rolled to the side, watching as a fist landed where his chest had been a nanosecond ago. Now it was milimeters from his head.

"yeeEEP..!" the alchemist yelped in surprise. Kihan suddenly fell to the ground - right on top of Edward. The blonde hissed in pain at the great weight on his chest now, which was also driving the air from his lungs. He brought his hands together and then hit the ground, causing a stone fist to rise up from the ground and hit Kihan upside the head, effectively getting the giant man off of him.

Edward panted, scrambling to his feet. He didn't like fighting opponents when they were three times the size of him, and even more so if they're an alchemist and a stupid terrorist. He frowned. There was no exit, and he could tell that the man was trying to get him away from the walls to create a door. But what was Kihan doing?

The burly man put a hand to the wall, creating spikes that jut out toward Edward, who jumped out of the way. In the corner of his eye, he saw something beneath him and spared a second to look.

"Shit!" he yowled, looking up to see the raven-haired male's smirking face. Underneath them both was a transmutation circle. Kihan put a hand to the circle, activating both. An iron wall encased Edward, except for his hands which were trapped in the wall; there had apparently been a hole especially made to keep him from clapping. That wasn't good, if the terrorists knew his secrets that easily.

"Now, I believe this is something that could get me a raise."

…**.**

**Key: Well...that was fun xD I had fun typing that. Good 2000 words there, good 6 1/2 pages on Google Docs. Hope you guys had fun reading this xD I think its kinda rushed….but oh well. The guy who has Edo-kun isn't anyone big, just so you know. Its kind of like a side story that leads up to the Va'jian thing. Yep. Bye! Please review and stuff ouo**


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